In spring 2017, Markus Söder (CSU) said that the state should not be a “substitute insurer”. At the time, he was still finance minister and the Bavarian state government had decided to stop paying emergency aid to flood victims if their damage was insurable. The aid in summer 2016, after the flood in the Rottal-Inn district, was to be the last. Seven people died at the time, and 500 houses were destroyed in Simbach am Inn alone, causing more than a billion euros in damage. Now, in June 2024, Prime Minister Söder says: “Bavaria helps quickly and unbureaucratically. We don’t leave anyone alone in times of need.”
On Tuesday, the cabinet decided to provide aid for flood victims again. “100 million plus x,” says Söder. As of Tuesday afternoon, most of the money is likely to go to Upper Bavaria and Swabia, where the floods have hit people particularly hard. Also as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Söder, three people have died and seven others are still missing. The damage is enormous. No one can currently estimate exactly how much money will actually be needed to repair it. Söder is leaving the amount of emergency aid in Bavaria open-ended. He says: “In the end, it will be as much as is needed.”
The Bavarian emergency aid for household goods is capped at a maximum of 5,000 euros per household, and that for oil damage at 10,000 euros. If the damage had been insurable, the aid is reduced by half, to 5,000 euros for oil damage and 2,500 euros for household goods. The decision on this aid was made so quickly because the Free State can fall back on programs that were set up in 2021 and 2016 after the floods in Berchtesgaden and Simbach and in 2013 after the floods in the Passau and Deggendorf regions.
In addition to aid for private households, this also includes support for the self-employed and freelancers. The state wants to pay them up to 200,000 euros, depending on how serious the damage is. In the areas of agriculture, forestry and tourism, the aid is capped at 50,000 euros. In all cases, the aid would be lower if the damage could have been insured. Insured persons can also initially count on the full state emergency aid, which will later be offset against insurance benefits.
With a view to future disasters, Söder repeated his call on Tuesday for compulsory nationwide insurance for natural hazards. “I do not believe that this is the last flood that Bavaria or Germany will experience,” said the Prime Minister.